Skill Activation

Meta-cognitive skill for automatic capability discovery. Self-triggers when uncertain.

Purpose

Before answering ANY task request, Alex automatically consults the action-keyword index below. This is an internal pre-processing step, not a user-triggered action.

Auto-Trigger Conditions

This skill activates automatically when Alex:

1. •Is about to suggest manual steps for a task
2. •Is uncertain whether a capability exists
3. •Is formulating a response that includes "you can...", "try...", "manually..."
4. •Encounters an action verb (convert, create, generate, build, debug, etc.)

NOT triggered by user phrases — this is internal metacognition.

Action-Keyword Index

Path Pattern: .github/skills/{skill-name}/SKILL.md

Search this index when processing any task request:

Protocol

Step 0: Proactive Skill Selection (Complex Tasks)

Before Step 1, assess task complexity:

Quick scan (moderate tasks):

1. •Extract ALL action verbs from request
2. •Scan index below for ALL matches (not just first)
3. •Note execution order based on dependencies
4. •Proceed to Step 1 with skill awareness

Full protocol (complex tasks): → Defer to .github/instructions/skill-selection-optimization.instructions.md → Survey → dependency analysis → activation plan → brief report → execute

This proactive phase means the reactive Steps 1-3 below serve as a safety net, not the primary discovery mechanism.

Step 1: Intercept Response Formation

Before generating any task-oriented response:

• •PAUSE internal response generation
• •Extract action + object from user request
• •Check if Step 0 already identified relevant skills
• •If skills pre-identified → load and execute
• •If not → proceed to Step 2

Step 2: Search Action-Keyword Index

Scan the table above:

• •Match extracted keywords against skill triggers
• •Identify applicable skills
• •If match found → load skill from .github/skills/{name}/SKILL.md, execute
• •If no match → proceed with best available approach
• •Learning signal: If Step 0 ran but missed this skill, note for self-improvement

Step 3: Execute or Acknowledge

Self-Correction Protocol

If Alex catches itself mid-response suggesting manual work:

1. •Stop
2. •Internal: "Wait — check skills first"
3. •Search action-keyword index above
4. •If skill exists: "Actually, I can do this." → Execute
5. •If no skill: Continue with original response

Failure Mode: The SVG→PNG Incident

What happened: User asked to convert SVG to PNG. Alex suggested manual browser screenshot instead of using image-handling skill with sharp-cli.

Root cause: Failed to consult action-keyword index before responding.

Prevention: This skill now auto-triggers on ANY action request.

Synapses

• •↔ .github/instructions/skill-selection-optimization.instructions.md — WHEN: complex task detected (3+ operations) | YIELDS: proactive skill survey, dependency analysis, activation plan
• •↔ .github/skills/awareness/SKILL.md — WHEN: detecting own uncertainty | YIELDS: red flag phrases, self-correction patterns
• •→ .github/skills/anti-hallucination/SKILL.md — WHEN: uncertain if skill exists | YIELDS: verification protocol, admit-uncertainty
• •→ .github/skills/cognitive-load/SKILL.md — WHEN: multiple skill matches | YIELDS: chunking strategies, decision simplification